Sports desk2 minutes ago
- Copy link
Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli have retired from Test cricket. Senior player of the team Jasprit Bumrah will also play only 3 Tests on England tour. After Rohit’s retirement, batsman Shubman Gill has been given the command of the team.
In the absence of senior players, head coaches Gautam Gambhir and captain Gill will have to find answers to 4 questions regarding team combination. In the story, we will try to know who will open Rohit in playing-11? If Gill plays on number-4, who will play on number-3.
1. Who will open Rohit instead of?
Rohit said goodbye to Test cricket on 7 May. For the last 6 years, he was opening in a red ball. Since 2023, his partner is Yashasvi Jaiswal. In such a situation, instead of Yashasvi, it is fixed, but who will support him, the answer to this question will have to be found now.
On the opening position, Rohit may be replaced by KL Rahul with Yashasvi. Rahul opened with Yashasvi in ​​the tour of Australia and the unofficial Test against England Lions. Apart from these, Sai Sudarshan is also a contender to replace Rohit.
- KL Rahul: 33 -year -old Rahul made his Test debut in 2014. He played 58 Tests so far and scored 3257 runs. Out of this, about 85–90% of innings opened. Rahul has 8 Test centuries in his name, in which he scored 7 centuries while opening. Rahul has scored the most runs on foreign pitches in England. His name is 2 centuries here.
- Sai Sudarshan: 23 -year -old Sudarshan is in discussion after his performance in IPL. He has played 3 ODIs and 1 T20 for India. Sudarshan has scored 7 centuries in first class cricket and has a county cricket experience in England.
2. Who will land on number-3 after Gill?
Virat Kohli retired from the Test on 12 May. He used to bat on number-4 in the team and was the most experienced member of the squad. His departure led to a huge gap of experienced and strong batter of middle order in the team. Gill will fill this gap. In the first Test, Gill will bat for the first time at number-4. Vice Captain Rishabh Pant gave this information at the press conference on Wednesday. If Gill plays at number four, the question of number-3 arises. It has two contenders.
- Sai Sudarshan: If Gill changes his existing position to batting on number-4, you can play Sudarshan on number-3. They are in form and are left handers, which will provide variety in top orders.
- Karun Nair: 33 -year -old Nair has got a chance in Test Squad after 8 years. He played the last Test against Australia in March 2017. Nair is also the third contender. Has experienced Test cricket experience, notout triple century against England in 2016. However, Nair has a habit of playing in the middle order, so Sudarshan has more chances on number-3 and Nair can play at number six. Karun has so far scored 374 runs in 6 Tests.
3. Who will lead the pace attack instead of Bumrah?
Fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah will play only 2 or 3 Tests of the series against England in view of workload and injury. In his absence, Mohammad Siraj can lead the pace attack as an experience. They have good experience in all formats so far. Apart from them, famous Krishna and Shardul Thakur are also options.
- Mohammad Siraj: Siraj, who played all three formats from India, is at the forefront of leading the pace attack in the absence of Bumrah in the Test. Their bowling has pace and agreation, harassing the batsmen. He has taken 100 wickets in 36 Tests. In the absence of Bumrah, Mohammed Shami and Umesh Yadav, Siraj made a Test debut on the tour of Australia in 2020-21 and took the most wickets for India in the series.
- Famous Krishna: The 29 -year -old, a 29 -year -old, made a Test debut against South Africa in 2023. He played 3 Tests so far and took 8 wickets. He took the most 25 wickets in IPL 2025 and won the Purple Cap. Krishna is the first England tour.
- Shardul Thakur: Shardul, who has made her three format debut for India, has so far taken 31 wickets in 11 Tests. He also scored 35 wickets in Ranji Trophy 2024–25 and scored 505 runs. He also has experience of playing in England. He has taken 173 runs in 4 Tests here and took 10 wickets. These include two half -centuries. He has also put a fifty in the World Test Championship Final.
4. Team India will land with how many spinners?
Team India included 3 spinners in the squad for the England tour. Apart from all -rounder Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar, specialist spinner Kuldeep Yadav is also there. Both Jadeja and Sundar can also support in batting. At the same time, in view of the team management pitch condition, it will decide what will be the playing-11 combination.
- Ravindra Jadeja: After Rohit and Kohli, Jadeja is the only senior player left in the Test team, whose career is more than 12 years old. The number-1 Test all-rounder has played 80 Test matches so far, with 3370 runs and 323 wickets. These include 4 centuries and 22 half -centuries. Jadeja has taken 642 runs and 27 wickets in 12 matches in Test cricket in England.
- Washington beautiful: He has not played any Test match in England so far. However, Sundar has 468 runs and 25 wickets in 9 Tests.
- Kuldeep Yadav: Chinaman Kuldeep has played only 13 Tests. In these, he has taken 56 wickets. Kuldeep played only one Test in England. He was included in the playing-11 of the Lord’s Test in 2018. He did not get a single wicket in that match, then was dropped from playing-11. England’s pitches usually help seam and swing, but some wickets in summer may be helpful for spinners. Kuldeep Yadav may join India’s playing-11 if there is expected turn on grounds like Oval, Manchester or Trent Bridge.
Captain Gill will bat on number-4
Captain Shubman Gill will bat at number 4. Gill currently plays at number-3 position, but after Virat Kohli’s retirement, he will bat on number-4. Batting on number-4 in Test cricket is considered a very important number and usually plays the team’s most experienced, reliable and technical batsman on this position.
Sachin Tendulkar batted mostly at number-4 in his career and scored the most runs on this position. Steve Smith is the most successful test batter of the current era and plays only on number-4. Joe Root and Virat Kohli also batted on number-4 for a long time.
India’s Posible playing-11
Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudarshan, Shubman Gill (Captain), Rishabh Pant (Deputy Captain), Karun Nair, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Jaspreet Bumrah, Mohammad Siraj, famous Krishna.
England tour will start from today
Team India will play a 5 Test series in England from today. After Rohit’s retirement, the team will play in the presence of the new captain. This will be India’s first series in the new cycle of the World Test Championship (WTC).